“If a doctor gives importance to dowry system, he cannot be called educated,” said Anshu Thakur, a fifth year MBBS student at Janaki Medical College in Dhanusha. “Dowry should never be accepted,” he added. [break]
Reminiscing that his father did not take dowry when he got married three decades ago, he added, “Parents should allow their children to make their own decisions.” He further said that dowry system has continued to thrive because parents are not assured about their children´s decision-making abilities.
Anshu is the elder of the two sons of Rakesh Thakur, who is the Public Health Administrator at the Epidemiology Division. Anshu says that in his family, no one talks about dowry.
“Whatever profession the children choose, empowering them is the best way to root out the dowry system,” he claimed.
Bibha Singh Mahato, second year MBBS student at the same college, said a man who demands dowry does not deserve to get married. “A girl should not marry a man who demands dowry. Such men should be ostracized by society,” she said.
Mahato said that 10 of her classmates have already decided not to marry men demanding dowry.
Her classmate Babi Bhagat of Rajbiraj concurred. “Any educated girl should reject such marriage,” she opined.
Chandan Mishra, and Achyut Bhaktacharya, among other medical students, vowed that they would not accept dowry.
Stating that there is a rising trend of love marriage in the Maithili community, Achyut said this is a lesson to conservative parents.
Last Friday, some four dozen medical students wearing aprons participated in a march in a village eight kilometers away from the college.
Namrata Giri, Dhanusha coordinator of Women´s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC), a women´s rights group, said dowry system is the main culprit behind violence against women and men´s migration to foreign shores.
“Especially in the Tarai, it is not possible to find a decent groom without arranging sufficient dowry,” Giri said. “This forces men to look for jobs in foreign countries to arrange enough dowry for their daughters and sisters,” she added.
Meanwhile, women continue to suffer from violence owing to dowry. In the past two years, two women died while two more were beaten up and thrown out of their houses owing to dowry-related disputes.
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